MARSBUGS: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter Volume 9, Number 43, 18 November 2002. Editor/Publisher: David J. Thomas, Ph.D., Science Division, Lyon College, Batesville, AR 72503-2317, USA. dthomas@lyon.edu Contributing Editor: Julian A. Hiscox, Ph.D., School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AJ, United Kingdom. J.A.Hiscox@reading.ac.uk Marsbugs is published on a weekly to monthly basis as warranted by the number of articles and announcements. Copyright of this compilation exists with the editors, except for specific articles, in which instance copyright exists with the author/authors. While we cannot effectively copyright our mailing list, our readers would appreciate it if others would not send unsolicited e-mail using the Marsbugs mailing list. The editors do not condone "spamming" of our subscribers. Persons who have information that may be of interest to subscribers of Marsbugs should send that information to the editors. E-mail subscriptions are free, and may be obtained by contacting either of the editors. Information concerning the scope of this newsletter, subscription formats and availability of back-issues is available from the Marsbugs web page at http://welcome.to/marsbugs or http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/marsbugs/. _____________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS 1) AAAS BOARD RESOLUTION URGES OPPOSITION TO "INTELLIGENT DESIGN" THEORY IN U.S. SCIENCE CLASSES By Ginger Pinholster 2) CLOUD COLONIES ON VENUS By Leslie Mullen 3) DETECTING BACTERIA IN SPACE: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UNKNOWN NSBRI release 4) HOW TO SORT SCIENCE FACT FROM SCIENCE FICTION NASA/JPL relase 2002-207 5) AAS CONFERENCE TO FOCUS ON SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGY NASA/ARC release 02-118AR 6) NASA'S INTEGRATED SPACE TRANSPORTATION PLAN RELEASED NASA release 02-220 7) ANCIENT PROTEIN AND DNA SEQUENCES FOUND IN SAME FOSSIL From SpaceDaily 8) NEW GREENHOUSE AND WASTE-WATER RECYCLING SYSTEM IS SUBJECT OF STUDY FOR MDRS SIM CREWS THIS FIELD SEASON Mars Society release 9) NASA'S BAD MEDICINE: LONG-TERM SPACE TRAVEL WEAKENS DRUG POTENCY By Leonard David 10) NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas 11) CASSINI SIGNIFICANT EVENTS NASA/JPL release 12) INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SCIENCE OPERATIONS STATUS REPORT NASA/MSFC release 13) MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES NASA/JPL/ASU release 14) STARDUST STATUS REPORT NASA/JPL release _____________________________________________________________________ AAAS BOARD RESOLUTION URGES OPPOSITION TO "INTELLIGENT DESIGN" THEORY IN U.S. SCIENCE CLASSES By Ginger Pinholster AAAS release 6 November 2002 The AAAS Board recently passed a resolution urging policymakers to oppose teaching "Intelligent Design Theory" within science classrooms, but rather, to keep it separate, in the same way that creationism and other religious teachings are currently handled. "The United States has promised that no child will be left behind in the classroom," said Alan I. Leshner, CEO and executive publisher for AAAS. "If intelligent design theory is presented within science courses as factually based, it is likely to confuse American schoolchildren and to undermine the integrity of U.S. science education." American society supports and encourages a broad range of viewpoints, Leshner noted. While this diversity enriches the educational experience for students, he added, science-based information and conceptual belief systems should not be presented together. Peter H. Raven, chairman of the AAAS Board of Directors, agreed: "The ID movement argues that random mutation in nature and natural selection can't explain the diversity of life forms or their complexity and that these things may be explained only by an extra- natural intelligent agent," said Raven, Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden. "This is an interesting philosophical or theological concept, and some people have strong feelings about it. Unfortunately, it's being put forth as a scientifically based alternative to the theory of biological evolution. Intelligent design theory has so far not been supported by peer-reviewed, published evidence." In contrast, the theory of biological evolution is well-supported, and not a "disputed view" within the scientific community, as some ID proponents have suggested, for example, through "disclaimer" stickers affixed to textbooks in Cobb County, Georgia. "The contemporary theory of biological evolution is one of the most robust products of scientific inquiry," the AAAS Board of Directors wrote in a resolution released today. "AAAS urges citizens across the nation to oppose the establishment of policies that would permit the teaching of 'intelligent design theory' as a part of the science curriculum of the public schools." The AAAS Board resolved to oppose claims that intelligent design theory is scientifically based, in response to a number of recent ID- related threats to public science education. In Georgia, for example, the Cobb County District School Board decided in March this year to affix stickers to science textbooks, telling students that "evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things." Following a lawsuit filed August 21 by the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, the school board on September 26 modified its policy statement, but again described evolution as a "disputed view" that must be "balanced" in the classroom, taking into account other family teachings. The exact impact of the amended school board policy in Cobb County classrooms remains unclear. A similar challenge is underway in Ohio, where the state's education board on October 14 passed a unanimous, though preliminary vote to keep ID theory out of the state's science classrooms. But, their ruling left the door open for local school districts to present ID theory together with science, and suggested that scientists should "continue to investigate and critically analyze aspects of evolutionary theory." In fact, even while the state-level debate continued, Ohio's Patrick Henry Local School District passed a motion this June to support "the idea of intelligent design being included as appropriate in classroom discussions in addition to other scientific theories." The Ohio State Education Board is inviting further public comment through November. In December, board members will vote to conclusively determine whether alternatives to evolution should be included in new guidelines that spell out what students need to know about science at different grade levels. Meanwhile, ID theorists have reportedly been active in Missouri, Kansas, New Mexico, New Jersey, and other states, as well Ohio and Georgia. While asking policymakers to oppose the teaching of ID theory within science classes, the AAAS also called on its 272 affiliated societies, its members, and the public to promote fact-based, standards-based science education for American schoolchildren. AAAS Board Resolution on Intelligent Design Theory The contemporary theory of biological evolution is one of the most robust products of scientific inquiry. It is the foundation for research in many areas of biology as well as an essential element of science education. To become informed and responsible citizens in our contemporary technological world, students need to study the theories and empirical evidence central to current scientific understanding. Over the past several years proponents of so-called "intelligent design theory," also known as ID, have challenged the accepted scientific theory of biological evolution. As part of this effort they have sought to introduce the teaching of "intelligent design theory" into the science curricula of the public schools. The movement presents "intelligent design theory" to the public as a theoretical innovation, supported by scientific evidence, that offers a more adequate explanation for the origin of the diversity of living organisms than the current scientifically accepted theory of evolution. In response to this effort, individual scientists and philosophers of science have provided substantive critiques of "intelligent design," demonstrating significant conceptual flaws in its formulation, a lack of credible scientific evidence, and misrepresentations of scientific facts. Recognizing that the "intelligent design theory" represents a challenge to the quality of science education, the Board of Directors of the AAAS unanimously adopts the following resolution: Whereas, ID proponents claim that contemporary evolutionary theory is incapable of explaining the origin of the diversity of living organisms; Whereas, to date, the ID movement has failed to offer credible scientific evidence to support their claim that ID undermines the current scientifically accepted theory of evolution; Whereas, the ID movement has not proposed a scientific means of testing its claims; Therefore Be It Resolved, that the lack of scientific warrant for so- called "intelligent design theory" makes it improper to include as a part of science education; Therefore Be Further It Resolved, that AAAS urges citizens across the nation to oppose the establishment of policies that would permit the teaching of "intelligent design theory" as a part of the science curricula of the public schools; Therefore Be It Further Resolved, that AAAS calls upon its members to assist those engaged in overseeing science education policy to understand the nature of science, the content of contemporary evolutionary theory and the inappropriateness of "intelligent design theory" as subject matter for science education; Therefore Be Further It Resolved, that AAAS encourages its affiliated societies to endorse this resolution and to communicate their support to appropriate parties at the federal, state and local levels of the government. Approved by the AAAS Board of Directors on 10/18/02. [The editors of Marsbugs agree with the AAAS resolution. "Intelligent Design" is a philosophical and/or theological explanation, not a scientific one. As such, it should not even be called a theory.] An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-02zy.html. _____________________________________________________________________ CLOUD COLONIES ON VENUS By Leslie Mullen 13 November 2002 Could there be life on Venus? The idea appealed to Carl Sagan, especially when he considered the mysterious radio emissions that emanated from the planet. But then Sagan learned the radio signals were due to the planet's searing hot average surface temperature of 453 degrees C (847°F). The high temperatures, along with a crushing surface pressure of 90 atmospheres (equivalent to the pressure of being 3,000 feet below the sea), are due to Venus's thick cloud layers of sulfuric acid and the carbon dioxide "greenhouse" atmosphere. But 50 kilometers up from the surface, the temperature ranges between 30° and 80°C (86° to 176°F), and the pressure is only one atmosphere--the same as sea level on Earth. Sagan suggested that organisms with hydrogen gas bladders could float amid these more hospitable cloud layers. David Grinspoon, Principal Investigator for NASA's Exobiology Research Program, carried on Sagan's vision in his 1997 book, Venus Revealed. Grinspoon suggested that microbes living in the planet's clouds could explain several unusual observations. "When I originally suggested that unexplained signs of chemical disequilibrium in the atmosphere of Venus could be signs of life, I was extremely curious to see what the reaction of the scientific community would be," says Grinspoon. "Initially, it was the worst possible reaction--it was ignored!" But now Dirk Schulze-Makuch of the University of Texas at El Paso has investigated whether these observations of Venus may point to signs of life. Schulze-Makuch and his colleague Louis Irwin looked at data gathered from the Russian Venera space missions and the US Pioneer and Magellan Venus probes. He says one of the observations that could indicate life is the simultaneous existence of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide. These gasses react and destroy each other on short time scales, so they are rarely found together unless something is continuously producing them. On Earth, anaerobic bacteria can produce these gases. But so can volcanoes. Venus, like Earth, is a geologically active planet with many volcanoes. In fact, much of the surface of Venus is covered by lava flows. However, volcanoes are not necessarily the source of the hydrogen sulfide, says Schulze- Makuch. "The interesting pattern that we noticed is that hydrogen sulfide concentrations around the 50 kilometer cloud level are higher than near the surface of Venus," says Schulze-Makuch. "The pattern you would expect, if hydrogen sulfide can be attributed to volcanic exhalations only, is a maximum concentration near the surface and a dramatic decrease as you go up in altitude, especially given the oxidizing atmosphere." Yet Grinspoon says he doesn't completely believe the reported altitude profiles of hydrogen sulfide. He says we need to send new missions to Venus in order to measure this seeming anomaly. "Also, many chemical reactions occur much faster in the lower atmosphere where it is hotter," says Grinspoon. "This could potentially include reactions that destroy hydrogen sulfide. However, we just don't have a clear enough picture of what is going on chemically near the surface to come to firm conclusions. I regard life as a plausible explanation at present." The existence of carbonyl sulfide is another potential indicator of life. On Earth, trees and microorganisms produce carbonyl sulfide. But again, volcanoes also emit this gas. Since hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, and carbonyl sulfide all can be produced by volcanic activity, it would seem that volcanism is the most likely explanation. But Grinspoon says volcanism on Venus would have to be very active for it to be the culprit, and Venus is considered less volcanically active than Earth. And, stresses Schulze-Makuch, for hydrogen sulfide and carbonyl sulfide to form, both reactions need catalysts. Such catalysts can be other chemicals or metals, but it is unknown which specific catalysts are present and active in the Venusian environment. He points out that on Earth, the most efficient catalysts are microbes. Perhaps the deciding clue rests on the lack of carbon monoxide in the Venusian atmosphere. Schulze-Makuch says solar radiation and lightning should be producing large quantities of carbon monoxide, yet that gas is scarce. The missing carbon monoxide, he suggests, could be due to organisms that use the gas in their metabolisms. On Earth, many organisms use carbon monoxide in their metabolisms. For instance, at least 450 strains of photosynthetic bacteria use carbon monoxide as their sole carbon source. The lack of carbon monoxide on Venus can't be explained away by volcanic activity, either. However, non-living chemical reactions can remove carbon monoxide from an atmosphere. "For example, there are cycles involving chlorine chemistry which recycle carbon monoxide and various oxygen compounds back into carbon dioxide," says Grinspoon. But Grinspoon also thinks that life is another possible explanation for the missing carbon monoxide. Schulze-Makuch suggests that if microbes are living in the Venusian clouds, they could be combining the sulfur dioxide with carbon monoxide and possibly hydrogen. This could lead to the production of either hydrogen sulfide or carbonyl sulfide in a metabolism similar to that of some early Earth microbes. The ancestors of such early Earth microbes can be found today in hydrothermal vents under the sea. These organisms are chemosynthetic, meaning they use chemicals instead of sunlight to produce their food. What makes these organisms especially interesting is that they live in anoxic, acidic environments at high temperatures, which is roughly comparable to the conditions in Venus's clouds. Other Earth organisms that might give us clues to a Venusian metabolism are the green and purple sulfur bacteria. These are thought to be some of the earliest forms of photosynthetic bacteria on Earth, and they use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide to glucose, releasing sulfur as a waste product. It's tempting to think these organisms might feel at home on Venus, with its carbon dioxide atmosphere, clouds of sulfur, and traces of hydrogen sulfide. Photosynthesis requires light, but it is unknown how much sunlight can penetrate Venus's thick cloud layer. Still, Schulze-Makuch suggests the microbes on Venus could be using ultraviolet (UV) light from the Sun as an energy source. "UV light is harmful for all Earth microbes," says Schulze-Makuch. "What likely would have to happen is the UV light is broken down by a pigment to visible light or near-infrared light frequencies so it can be used for photosynthesis. We are currently working on what kind of pigment compound could be used." He says the utilization of UV light by microbes would explain the dark patches on UV images of Venus. The current non-biological explanation for these dark markings is that they are regions of sulfur dioxide near the cloud tops. One of the prerequisites for "life as we know it" is liquid water, yet water only makes up 0.003 percent of Venus's present atmosphere. Most of the water on Venus is in the form of misty droplets suspended in the clouds at the 50-km range. Venus may have had global oceans of water earlier in its history, however. If so, then life could have emerged. As the Sun grew hotter, this water would have boiled away. Perhaps life made a transition to the atmosphere in order to survive. Nature is remarkable for its ability to adapt to different and changing conditions. On Earth, says Schulze-Makuch, carbon dioxide is scarce, but terrestrial organisms learned to assimilate it from the atmosphere. "Thus, in a water-limited environment where carbon dioxide is common and water is scarce, microbes could have adapted to assimilate water vapor from the atmosphere," he says. But Grinspoon says that life on Venus might not need the water droplets at all. He suggests that water may not even be necessary for life to arise. "The requirement of liquid water is a current consensus, a fad you might say, but completely unsupported by any scientific theory or observation," says Grinspoon. Other than the presence of liquid water, one of the few agreed upon universals for life is that it creates and thrives on chemical disequilibrium. Although each case of chemical disequilibrium on Venus has a potential non-living explanation, each instance stacks up toward a greater possibility for life in the clouds. But according to Grinspoon, chemical disequilibrium may not be the strongest indication of life on other worlds. "Confronting Venus makes us realize that it is not enough to simply state that life creates disequilibrium," says Grinspoon. "This is true, but there are many non-biological processes that also destroy equilibrium, such as ultraviolet light and lightning. As I pointed out in Venus Revealed, not all life increases disequilibrium. You and I, for example, breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, thereby eating up some of the disequilibrium provided for us by green plants. So an atmosphere mysteriously close to equilibrium might also be a sign of life." The intriguing thing about Venus, says Grinspoon, is that it has too much equilibrium in the case of carbon monoxide--you would expect to see more carbon monoxide because it is always being made in the upper atmosphere by the photochemical destruction of carbon dioxide. But at the same time, there's too much disequilibrium in the case of the sulfur gasses. So the question we need to ask, he says, is how much disequilibrium is necessary to be a sure sign of life? "Must all living planets be blatantly out of chemical balance?" Grinspoon asks. "Venus presents us with an intermediate case. It is not obviously dead like Mars, from an equilibrium standpoint, nor is it obviously alive like Earth. It is somewhere in between." Schulze-Makuch says Venus's chemistry is not the only indication of life. Non-spherical particles of unknown composition have been detected in the atmosphere. These particles could be microbes. In addition, the large, continuous, fast-moving clouds would make for a stable microbial environment, allowing them to remain suspended in the atmosphere for several months (as opposed to only a few days on Earth). What's next? "It is gratifying to see these ideas finally enter the refereed scientific literature and to see research scientists entertain them without too much fear of embarrassment," says Grinspoon. "I have been talking about this for years, and have felt like a lone voice in the wilderness until very recently. Perhaps it is a long shot, but I regard present-day life on Venus as much more likely than present-day life on Mars." Grinspoon says that only way to find out for sure if there is life on Venus is to send new missions. Such missions could give us a more complete picture of the various processes that shape the chemistry of the atmosphere. The National Academy of Sciences recently released a report about solar system exploration goals over the next decade. One of the top priorities recommended was a mission to Venus to study the planet's atmosphere and surface. Grinspoon is currently working with other Venus scientists to develop this mission. The next planned Venus mission is the European Space Agency's Venus Express, launching in November 2005. This mission will study the atmosphere, surface, and plasma environment of Venus. The spacecraft will arrive at Venus after a flight of about 150 days, and then brake into a highly elliptical 5-day orbit around the planet. It will then assume a polar orbit between 250 km and 45,000 km above the planet for 450 Earth days (2 full Venusian years). Additional information on this article is available at http://www.astrobio.net/news/article311.html. _____________________________________________________________________ DETECTING BACTERIA IN SPACE: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UNKNOWN NSBRI release 13 November 2002 Bacteria in space, beware. New technology to monitor and identify bacteria is in the works. Dr. George E. Fox and Dr. Richard Willson, researchers on the National Space Biomedical Research Institute's immunology and infection team, have developed a new technology to characterize unknown bacteria. Its immediate application will be for identifying bacteria in space, but it will eventually aid in diagnosing medical conditions and detecting biological hazards on Earth. "Understanding the bacterial environment is important for astronauts' health," said Fox, professor of biology and biochemistry at University of Houston. "Astronauts spend months in the same quarters, breathe recycled air and potentially drink recycled water; conditions that create a bacterial breeding ground. Additionally, the space environment might also have some unexpected health considerations." Studies have shown that space conditions suppress the human immune system, making the body more susceptible to infection. Further, weightlessness and higher levels of radiation may increase the mutation rate in bacteria. This could result in making some organisms more resistant to antibiotics or perhaps causing others that are normally harmless to become infectious. "Because of space's unidentified effects on bacteria and the immune system, we don't know which organisms will cause problems," Fox said. "However, we have developed a technique to determine an organism's approximate identity." Their approach is based off the bacterial tree of life, which is arranged according to similarities in organisms' DNA sequences. Organisms whose DNA sequences are closely matched are more closely related than organisms whose DNA sequences are less similar. Fox and Willson have developed a method to identify the DNA sequences that are unique to small groups of bacteria. "Current detection systems mandate that you test for an exact organism. If a problem organism is similar but not identical to the organism you are testing for, the test will show up negative," Fox said. "However, with our system, astronauts would be able to pinpoint an organism's family and significantly narrow down the possibilities of its identity." Once Fox and Willson's device identifies the problem organism, scientists can predict the bacteria's source, like a faulty air filter or a water purifier, and fix the defective instrument for future missions. Any kind of bacterial buildup should be avoided in the spacecraft. "We are not specifically looking for deadly mutated bacteria," Fox said. "We are more concerned about preventing everyday infections because, if you get sick in space, you don't have a hospital around the corner for treatment. Our goal is to avoid infections with routine monitoring to keep bacteria levels low in the first place." The routine monitoring of bacterial levels is the second component of Fox and Willson's research. Because of limited laboratory space and chemical availability in spacecrafts, they are designing an easy-to- use monitoring method for bacteria levels. Astronauts would filter the air or water, or swab a surface, to obtain the bacterial sample, and then they would test the sample for high levels of certain organisms that would indicate contamination. "The tool will provide an early warning that the air or water purification system might not be working properly, allowing for needed repairs," said Fox. "The routine monitoring system and the bacterial identification device will help astronauts stay healthy during their time in space." The NSBRI, funded by NASA, is a consortium of institutions studying the health risks related to long-duration space flight. The Institute's 95 research and education projects take place at 75 institutions in 22 states involving 269 investigators. Contact: Christine Graham Phone: 713-798-5893 E-mail: info@www.nsbri.org An additional article on this subject is available at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-02zza.html. _____________________________________________________________________ HOW TO SORT SCIENCE FACT FROM SCIENCE FICTION NASA/JPL release 2002-207 13 November 2002 The facts and fiction of space exploration will be discussed in a pair of free public lectures at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Thursday, November 21, and at Pasadena City College on Friday, November 22. During the lectures, entitled "Rise of Machines: Intelligent Robots and Space Exploration," Dr. Richard Terrile of JPL, Mars Scout program scientist, will discuss how close we are to the dream of matching human intelligence in a machine and how these systems will be used to explore our solar system. Unlike stories or movies that have a beginning, middle and end, the day-to-day work of furthering space exploration is ongoing. JPL is known worldwide for its robotic exploration of the solar system, including missions to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, comets and asteroids. The presentation will include an overview of current and future plans in the quest to unravel the mysteries of space. Terrile has been a planetary astronomer at JPL for 22 years. He is credited with discovering Saturn's moon, Atlas, Uranus' moons Ophelia and Cordelia and was part of a team that detected a possible planet- forming disc around the star Beta Pictoris. Terrile began consulting for the movie industry as a hobby nearly twenty years ago on the motion picture, 2010. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. The lecture will also be webcast live on Thursday, November 21, at 7:00 PM Pacific Time at http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=ZBace9dPAIFO-3BCLCXxIg and will be archived online for later viewing. The lecture at JPL, located at 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, off the Oak Grove Drive exit of the 210 (Foothill) freeway, will be held in the von Karman Auditorium. The Friday lecture will be held in Pasadena City College's Vosloh Forum at 1570 East Colorado Blvd. For more information, call (818) 354-0112 or see http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=2aw4jW7mPstO-3BCLCXxIg. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. Contact: Colleen Sharkey Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA Phone: 818-354-0372 _____________________________________________________________________ AAS CONFERENCE TO FOCUS ON SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGY NASA/ARC release 02-118AR 13 November 2002 Technologies and Partnerships: Innovations for Space Exploration" is the theme of the 2002 national conference and annual meeting of the American Astronautical Society (AAS). The conference will be held November 19-21 at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, 1250 Lakeside Drive, Sunnyvale, CA. The conference will provide a forum for engineers, scientists and policy makers from industry, government and academia to discuss the impact on space exploration missions from breakthrough technologies. New approaches to partnering with NASA and other government agencies will also be discussed. Renowned Mars planetary scientist Dr. Chris McKay of NASA Ames Research Center will be the keynote speaker at the opening session of the conference on Tuesday, November 19. McKay is scheduled to discuss "The Case for Life in Space." McKay received his doctorate in astrogeophysics from the University of Colorado in 1982 and has worked as a research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center since that time. His current research focuses on the evolution of the solar system and the origin of life. He is also actively involved in planning for future Mars missions including human settlements. McKay has been involved with polar research since 1980, traveling to the Antarctic dry valleys and more recently to the Siberian and Canadian Arctic to conduct research in these Mars-like environments. Also featured on the first day of the conference will be the presentation of the 2002 Carl Sagan Memorial Award to the California and Carnegie Planet Search Team. The team's leader, Dr. Geoffrey Marcy, professor of astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley, will give the Sagan Lecture. The annual Sagan award, presented jointly with The Planetary Society, recognizes demonstrated leadership in research or policies that advance the exploration of the cosmos. Also featured at the conference will be Dr. Paul Davies, an internationally acclaimed physicist, writer and broadcaster who will discuss "How to Build a Time Machine" at the conference awards banquet on Wednesday, November 20 at 7:30 PM. A professor of natural philosophy in the Australian Centre for Astrobiology at Macquarie University, Sydney, Davies has authored more than 20 books, including The Mind of God, About Time and How to Build a Time Machine. Another scheduled speaker is James Crocker, vice president, Space Exploration Systems, Lockheed Martin Space Systems CO, who will discuss "NASA's Nuclear Systems Initiative: An Industry Perspective," at the conference's opening day luncheon on November 19. Additional speakers include Dr. Emma Bakes, a SETI Institute scientist, who will discuss "Computer Applications Advancing our Knowledge of Space: Parallels Between Nature and Technology" at the conference luncheon on Wednesday, November 20. The conference will feature several exhibits on display from conference participants. In an exhibit entitled "Tomorrow's Technology Today," NASA Ames will display its latest information technology, aerospace technology and astrobiology (the study of life in the universe) research. Also featured at the conference will be panel discussions of several topics, including information technology, biotechnology, new technologies and innovative partnering. The first panel session, entitled "Information Technology," will be held on Tuesday, November 19 from 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM. Topics to be discussed include "Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining," "Distributed Agents and Operations," "Mobile Agents Field Work," "Science Autonomy for Planetary Rovers," and "Revolutionary Computing Technologies for Deep Space Exploration." The second panel discussion, entitled "Biotechnology," will be held on Wednesday, November 20, from 8:00 AM to 12:30 PM. Topics to be discussed include "Introduction: Biology at NASA," "Biosensing for Space Applications: An Overview," "Astrobionics," "Astrobiology and Nanotechnology," "Nanopore Technologies," and "Microfluidics Technologies for NASA." The third panel discussion, entitled "New Technologies," will be held on Wednesday, November 20, from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Topics to be discussed include "Engineering with the Engines of Creation," "Single Wall Carbon Nanotube Reinforced Polymer Nanocomposites for Space Applications," and "Nanotechnology for the Next Generation of Deep Space Explorers." Additional topics to be discussed at the third session include "Optical SETI," "A New Search System for SETI," and "The Allen Telescope Array: A Prototype for Cost-Effective Future Radio Telescopes." The fourth and final panel discussion, entitled "Innovative Partnering," will be held on Thursday, November 21, from 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM. Topics to be discussed include "Government/Academia/Institutional Partnerships: An Overview," "The NASA Research Park," "Partnerships: Future Directions," and "Partnership Perspectives: Discussion." NASA Ames Center Director G. Scott Hubbard is the honorary chairman of the conference, which is being held in cooperation with the SETI Institute. Established in 1954, the AAS is a professional, non- profit organization dedicated to the knowledge of, support for and interest in space activities through technical journals and publications, symposia, national conferences and education initiatives. For additional conference information, see http://www.astronautical.org. Contact: Michael Mewhinney NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA Phone: 650-604-3937 or 650-604-9000 E-mail: mmewhinney@mail.arc.nasa.gov _____________________________________________________________________ NASA'S INTEGRATED SPACE TRANSPORTATION PLAN RELEASED NASA release 02-220 13 November 2002 Today, President George W. Bush submitted an amendment to his fiscal year 2003 budget request to accelerate implementation of a new Integrated Space Transportation Plan (ISTP) for NASA. Driven by the agency's new vision and mission, the Administration released details of a new, coordinated shift in three of the agency's important space flight programs. A new Integrated Space Transportation Plan (ISTP) is designed to benefit the International Space Station, Space Shuttle, and NASA's science and research objectives. The new ISTP dedicates more resources to the Space Station program; provides additional funding to extend the life and enhance the safety and reliability of the agency's orbiter fleet; boosts funding for science-based payloads and research; and restructures NASA's Space Launch Initiative (SLI), originally designed to identify next-generation reusable launch vehicle technology. The new ISTP reflects important changes to NASA's five-year budget plan, but keeps costs within the original 2003 fiscal budget. "The Bush Administration is proposing a comprehensive, strategic approach to link these critical programs to space transportation objectives," said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe. "The new ISTP coordinates our investments to enable science-driven exploration and provides continued safe and reliable human access to the International Space Station, " he said. A crucial component of the new ISTP is the development of a crew transport vehicle. The concept of an Orbital Space Plane reflects NASA's need to ferry Space Station crewmembers and to ensure that a capability exists to get the crew home if there's an emergency. The concept will be the immediate objective of SLI's new research efforts. Administrator O'Keefe said the Orbital Space Plane is beneficial on several levels. "It's based on existing technologies and therefore lowers risk and is more affordable. It will replace the Space Shuttle as the primary crew transport vehicle, freeing the orbiter fleet to focus on heavy cargo delivery," he said. SLI would continue to identify future reusable launch vehicle technology through a new Next Generation Launch Technology program, investing money in propulsion, structures and other key areas. "NASA's initial investment in the Space Launch Initiative is what makes the new ISTP possible, and SLI will continue to work to identify future technologies that will eventually allow us to leave low Earth orbit," concluded Administrator O'Keefe. "SLI provided us with the direction, and we feel this new ISTP provides a tightly integrated, systematic approach to address NASA's future space transportation needs," he said. Details of the President's budget amendment are available on the Internet at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/. NASA's vision and mission statements are available on the Internet at http://www.nasa.gov/bios/vision.html. Contact: Glenn Mahone/Bob Jacobs NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC Phone: 202-358-1898/1600 _____________________________________________________________________ ANCIENT PROTEIN AND DNA SEQUENCES FOUND IN SAME FOSSIL From SpaceDaily 14 November 2002 For the first time in the world, researchers at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, along with collaborators at the University of Oxford, Harvard University, and Michigan State University have uncovered two genetically informative molecules from a single fossil bone. In addition to the recovery of mitochondrial DNA, the complete sequencing of a bone protein, osteocalcin, makes this a major scientific breakthrough. Extending this work to additional fossils could change perceptions of evolutionary theory. Results of the study are published in the December issue of Geology, published by the Geological Society of America. Get the full story at http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-02zz.html. _____________________________________________________________________ NEW GREENHOUSE AND WASTE-WATER RECYCLING SYSTEM IS SUBJECT OF STUDY FOR MDRS SIM CREWS THIS FIELD SEASON Mars Society release 15 November 2002 The 2002 MDRS field season has started with a new addition to the station, the H. T. Odum greenhouse. After the first greenhouse succumbed to the 60-plus-mph Utah winds last season, several teams of volunteers from the society's GreenHab group installed a new beefed- up design this summer and fall. The 12' long, 14' diameter cylindrical structure is made of a sturdy steel frame with clear polycarbonate glazing panels donated by Suntuf, Inc. The Suntuf SUNLITE(r) and Suntuf(r) panels are clear, rigid, light-weight and nearly indestructible. Before the new structure was installed, 12-18" of desert soil was excavated, then backfilled into the bottom of the cylindrical structure as a foundation for the insulated floor. In addition to several tons of soil ballast, the structure is secured with steel guy cables on the sides and ends. It was designed as an analog of an inflated martian greenhouse and houses the "living machine" aqueous biome component of the new water recycling system. The GreenHab group formed at the Stanford Mars Society conference and has made formidable progress in recycling the water and solid waste at the MDRS. Primarily utilizing biology, and various supporting physical and chemical processes, the system can treat up to 40 gallons of water a day. The recycled water is currently used to flush the toilet. Treated water will be regularly tested over the course of this field season and the GreenHab group will analyze the data. A major GreenHab goal is to incrementally improve the quality and thus increase the number of uses of the recycled water. The installed living machine uses half the floor space of the H. T. Odum greenhouse leaving the other half available to researchers for future experiments. The living machine at the heart of the system was designed by David Blersch and Dr. Patrick Kangas of the Department of Biological Resources Engineering at the University of Maryland. A test-bed greenhouse and living machine was previously constructed and continues to operate on the campus of the University of Maryland. The new greenhouse is named after the noted ecologist, Dr. Howard Thomas Odum, who passed away in September 2002. Dr. Odum was a founder of the modern science of ecology and the field of ecological engineering. He articulated the need for ecological structure and function for life support associated with space travel, with publications on this subject spanning over 30 years. Dr. Odum received his doctorate in zoology from Yale in 1951. He was a teacher at the University of Florida, Duke, the University of Texas, the University of Puerto Rico and the University of North Carolina before returning to Florida in 1970 where he founded The Center for Wetlands in 1973. He wrote 15 books and more than 300 articles. Mars Society Steering Committee member Gary Fisher leads the GreenHab Group. GreenHab members who made major contributions to the DRS project are: David Blersch, Dr. Penny Boston, Dean Calahan, Dennis Creamer, Gus Frederick, Sherwin Gormly, Dr. Patrick Kangas, Bruce Mackenzie, Kenneth C. Miller, Frank Schubert, Sam Stone, Jeff Zerr, and employees of Firestar Engineering, LLC: Ted Fisher, Greg Mungus, and Ritch Shidemantle. _____________________________________________________________________ NASA'S BAD MEDICINE: LONG-TERM SPACE TRAVEL WEAKENS DRUG POTENCY By Leonard David From Space.com 15 November 2002 Astronauts marching off to the International Space Station (ISS), or further yet, to Mars, better double-check their medicine cabinets. Space travel appears to alter the stability of drugs flown on Space Shuttle and ISS flights. An on-going study of antibiotics, motion sickness drugs, and other remedies provided to astronauts show that some products degrade during space treks causing concern among NASA medical specialists. Long-haul expeditions to Mars, for one, could be exposed to increased risk by trying to fend off medical emergencies with ineffective drugs. For instance, an uncontrolled infection might lead to an en route crew having to short-circuit their mission. In the worst case, casualties could occur due to bad doses of onboard medicines. Space data already collected has shown that some eight percent of all drug treatments during space flights were reported "not efficacious"- -or in more down to Earth language, not producing the desired effect. Evidence exists that the therapeutic effectiveness of some drugs, like scopolamine to curb nausea, may change in space. Get the full story at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/space_drugs_021115.html. _____________________________________________________________________ NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ASTROBIOLOGY INDEX By David J. Thomas http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/astrobiology.h tml 18 November 2002 Astrobiology, exobiology and terraformation articles http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s1.html L. Mullen, 2002. Cloud colonies on Venus. Astrobiology Magazine. S. Shostak, 2002. Alien life: perception isn't always reality. Strategies for Success, #37, Benjamin-Cummings, San Francisco. Human space exploration and microgravity effects articles http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s3.html National Space Biomedical Research Institute, 2002. Detecting bacteria in space: the good, the bad and the unknown. SpaceDaily. L. David, 2002. NASA'S bad medicine: long-term space travel weakens drug potency. Space.com. Evolutionary biology and chemistry articles http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/online_article s5.html G. Pinholster, 2002. AAAS opposes "intelligent design theory" within science classes. SpaceDaily. SpaceDaily, 2002. Ancient protein and DNA sequences found in same fossil. SpaceDaily. _____________________________________________________________________ CASSINI SIGNIFICANT EVENTS NASA/JPL release 7-13 November 2002 The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired from the Goldstone tracking station on Wednesday, November 13. The Cassini spacecraft is in an excellent state of health and is operating normally. Information on the present position and speed of the Cassini spacecraft may be found on the "Present Position" web page located at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/present-position.cfm. On board activities this week included Radio and Plasma Wave Science High Frequency Receiver calibrations and a high rate cyclic, the second of two tests at the new ESA tracking station in New Norcia, Australia, and a checkout of the new RADAR Version 3.0 Flight Software (FSW). The software loaded properly, and the Instrument Expanded Block (IEB) executed as expected. Analysis of data returned is on-going but at this time the FSW appears to be operating as designed with no anomalies detected. The development of the Science Operations Plan for tour sequences S11/S12 completed this week. A wrap-up meeting was held to present the state of the sequences as archived. Two meetings were held over the past two weeks with leads from the Target Working Teams (TWT), Orbiter Science Teams (OST), and the Science Planning Engineers. Discussion was focused on ways to reduce the complexity of the integration of the Science Operations Plan in an effort to simplify the implementation process. TWT/OST integration guidelines will be forthcoming shortly. S14 has been chosen as the tour sequence to be used for Verification & Validation (V&V) activities to be performed beginning in April of next year. This sequence was chosen as it contains many challenging tour activities, including a Synthetic Aperture RADAR observation during a low-altitude Titan flyby. V&V status was presented at this week's Cassini Design Team meeting. Gravitational Wave Experiment #2 will begin December 6 and continue until mid January 2003. In order to be able to provide continuous ACE coverage for this experiment the Mission Support and Services offices put out a call internal to Cassini for anyone who would like to dust off their ACE skills and assist in staffing this important event. Members of MSSO and the Spacecraft Operations Office have responded and will be undergoing refresher training over the next month. The Outreach Team traveled to Oakland, California to meet with members of the Cassini K-4 reading and language program. The meeting focused on content review, formulating a schedule for testing and completion of the materials, and general administrative details. Project FIRST hosted the meeting at the UC Berkeley campus. Cassini is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA, manages the Cassini mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. _____________________________________________________________________ INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SCIENCE OPERATIONS STATUS REPORT NASA/MSFC release 15 November 2002 Middle school students conducted fall geography research this week courtesy of the International Space Station. The Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students (EarthKAM) science team began photography operations on Monday and continued throughout the week using an automated camera in a window of the orbiting research lab. Ten schools participated in this week's operations. More than 600 images taken on 46 orbits have been downlinked to the science team for distribution to the schools. The experiment allows students around the country to send commands to the camera and take pictures of geographical or manmade features that they have selected for various classroom studies. The digital images are transmitted to Earth, where students can retrieve them via the Internet in a matter of hours. No EarthKAM operations were scheduled until 2003, but changes in Russian and U.S. launch schedules permitted time for the educational research program. On Thursday, selected members of the crew participated in the Crew Interactions research program. The experiment consists of a computer-based survey of roughly 70 questions. Scientists hope to identify and characterize interpersonal and cultural factors that could affect the performance of the crew, as well as ground support personnel also participating in the survey. On Thursday, the crew collected background radiation readings on the EVA Radiation Monitoring (EVARM) experiment. The experiment consists of dosimeter badges worn by astronauts in the cooling undergarments of their spacesuits during space walks. Measurements taken inside the Station will be compared to radiation readings recorded after space walks. The EVARM badges will be worn next on the STS-113 Shuttle mission to the Space Station scheduled for November 18. EVARM is the first experiment to measure radiation received by specific parts of the body, including the eyes, internal organs and skin. Downlinked images last week of Arabidopsis thaliana plants being grown in the Plant Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus indicated that the plants have not grown as fast as expected. The science team decided this week to let the plants continue growing and harvest them after they are returned to Earth. The focus of this commercial experiment is to better understand the role of gravity on lignin--a plant substance that affects the strength of plant stalks and stems. Crew Earth Observation photography subjects for this week included Buenos Aires; American Samoa; Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, China; the Nile River Delta, Madrid; Nairobi, Kenya, Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa; Patagonian Glacier fields, and fires in Madagascar. Troubleshooting work on the ARCTIC 1 freezer in the Destiny lab scheduled for Thursday was deferred until after the STS-113 Space Shuttle mission to the Space Station. ARCTIC 1 and an identical unit, ARCTIC 2, are used to preserve biological specimens for return to Earth. Both units malfunctioned recently. No samples are currently stored in either unit. The operations team has decided to bring the ARCTIC 2 freezer home on an upcoming Shuttle mission. The Payload Operations Center at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL, manages all science research experiment operations aboard the International Space Station. The center is also home for coordination of the mission-planning work of a variety of international sources, all science payload deliveries and retrieval, and payload training and payload safety programs for the Station crew and all ground personnel. Contact: Steve Roy Media Relations Department Phone: 256-544-0034 E-mail: Steve.Roy@msfc.nasa.gov _____________________________________________________________________ MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES NASA/JPL/ASU release 12-14 November 2002 Dunes in Becquerel Crater (Released 12 November 2002) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20021112a.html Mariner 9 Anniversary/Landslides on Mars (Released 13 November 2002) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20021113a.html Small volcanic crater near Pavonis Mons (Released 14 November 2002) http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20021114a.html All of the THEMIS images are archived at http://themis.la.asu.edu/latest.html. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. _____________________________________________________________________ STARDUST STATUS REPORT NASA/JPL release 15 November 2002 Stardust successfully completed playback of images this week from its flyby of asteroid Annefrank the previous week. Many news publications and newscasts around the world reported the success of the flyby. The spacecraft is operating in good health. Two periods of radio contact through antennas of the Deep Space Network provided communications with the flight team. Stardust personnel participated at a "lessons-learned" meeting on November 11 and 12 and discussed activities that went well during the Annefrank flyby and activities that could be improved for the primary encounter with Comet Wild 2 in 2004. For more information on the Stardust mission--the first ever comet sample return mission--please visit the Stardust home page at http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov. _____________________________________________________________________ End Marsbugs, Volume 9, Number 43.